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Sam Borden, ESPN Senior Writer
PARIS — After a strong finish to the group stage raised dreams of a surprising run for the United States men’s Olympic soccer team, the Americans saw their hopes erased on Friday — in comprehensive fashion — after a 4-0 defeat to Morocco at the Parc des Princes.
Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi, playing in his club’s home stadium, offered a suitable exclamation point for Morocco with a sharp finish after a blazing run on 70 minutes, but the U.S. felt all but gone even earlier.
Illias Akhomach’s goal had already created an obstacle too big for this team full of young Americans — a group which scored seven goals in its previous two games but struggled to break through at all against a top African side. Mehdi Maouhoub’s penalty in stoppage time was meaningful only inasmuch as it offered the Moroccans one more chance to celebrate.
The U.S. players will surely have some regrets, but in time, they will likely see the overall showing here as encouraging. After playing France level for 60 of the 90 minutes in their tournament-opener, the Americans — led by consistently strong performances from Kevin Paredes and Djordje Mihailovic — defeated New Zealand and Guinea to push a U.S. men’s team into the quarterfinals of the Olympics for the first time since 2000.
Against Morocco, coach Marko Mitrović stuck with the same front three from the Guinea match — Paredes, Paxten Aaronson and Griffin Yow — but the verve and excitement the trio produced in Saint-Etienne wasn’t replicated against an excellent Moroccan team, which finished top of its group.
Soufiane Rahimi, who scored Morocco’s opener on Friday from the spot, is the leading scorer of the tournament.
Coming in, the United States knew this was by far the stoutest test would face since that debut against France in Marseille, and the crowd here might have been even livelier than that one.
Moroccan fans — almost all wearing red — packed into all sections of the stadium, singing and chanting and whistling almost every American touch of the ball from the opening kickoff.
They also jeered every move by the referee of the game, Yael Falcón, a development surely due to Falcon’s nationality: Argentine.
After all, Morocco began this tournament by beating Argentina, 2-1, in a match that devolved into chaos near its conclusion and featured a pitch invasion and a controversial VAR decision at the end that left Argentina on the wrong side of the scoreline.
Given that, many Moroccan fans were concerned about an Argentine refereeing their quarterfinal, but the most debatable decision made by Falcón actually left the Americans as the ones feeling aggrieved.
After successfully soaking up much of the Moroccan attack through the first 25 minutes or so, the U.S. was defending as the ball floated high into the right side of their penalty area.
Three players — U.S. full-back Nathan Harriel and Morocco’s Oussama El Azzouzi and Rahimi — converged, all with their feet up and legs extended.
It appeared that El Azzouzi clattered Rahimi most clearly, but Falcón, the referee, blew his whistle and awarded a penalty for what appeared to be a smaller touch from Harriel on the Rahimi’s calf. VAR reviewed, and upheld, the call.
Rahimi then dispatched the spot kick, rippling the corner of the net with a shot that goalkeeper Patrick Schulte nearly saved but couldn’t quite push wide.
At that point, the U.S. struggled to find its way back in. By the end of the first half, Morocco’s players seemed to be flipping the ball back and forth for fun as the U.S. chased, but the Americans did find a bit of light after the break.
Early the in the second half, the U.S. had its best move of the game when Walker Zimmerman, one of the three overage players permitted each team, nodded a looping ball back in front of goal. Miles Robinson, another of the senior players, had a chance from point-blank range but scuffed his opportunity wide as Zimmerman dropped his head.
On the sideline, Mitrović stared. Moments later, Abde Ezzalzouli broke down the left wing and cut a perfect ball back for Akhomach. The U.S. was reeling. Soon, they were out.